[jhb146]

I've got a Shoptask Eldorado ~2003 model. I'm trying to get it all tuned up to convert to CNC. Like the rest of these machines the quality is lacking... I first noticed that when drilling with the tailstock the drill bits would deflect.

As shown in the first 2 pictures I've got two centers mounted and the tailstock is low. I've got the ruler in there, but it is even visible with my uncalibrated eye.

I saw this forum or another forum about someone else having this issue. For the life of me I can't remember what the fix was.

My first thought is to figure out exactly how low it is and shim under the 4 bolts between the lower and upper half of the tailstock as shown in the 3rd picture.

Its this a good way to fix it? What would be the best way to measure how much it the tailstock is low?

[sharpshooter90]

The first thing you need to check is if the tailstock barrel is travelling parallel to the ways- on those machines with the combo tailstock/ steady rest, any contamination- even paint between the surfaces can cock the assembly and cause the barrel to travel at an angle.
That can cause it to be off in a number of directions. If the barrel is travelling straight and parallel to the ways, then you will need to shim the upper half to raise it up. This is a lot easier than trying to lower one that is too high. Just measure the error and find some appropriate shim material to put between the two parts.

[jhowelb]

Make sure that the cutting edge of a tool in the slide is on center with the center in the headstock. Then use the tool edge to compare to the tail stock center extended and retracted. This will tell the story if it is high or not traveling parallel.

[jhb146]

I found that it was not traveling parallel. It was about .010 low. total and .004" over the 3" of the tail stock travel.

I was able to get it to travel parallel with in .001" over the ~3" of by shimming .004 under the left side of the tail stock. It isn't perfect, but way better than it was. The last 1" for so has a .002 dip in it.

There was also the annoying yellow paint between the bottom and top parts of the tailstock. I don't think this was allowing it to be torqued down evenly contributing to the total error. It is much better now.

Taking all of the tailstock apart required me to re-align the horizontal axis as well.